Although a new year brings excitement about what lies ahead, it may also bring uneasiness about what’s expected of us. Or, what we expect of ourselves.

Then, we make grandiose resolutions and plans and dream bigger and bigger with each passing year trying to top the previous one.

But I never make resolutions. There’s too much burden in making, keeping, measuring, and probable failing at my resolve to change or better myself or an area of my life.

Yet, I like to reflect on the preceding year. Reflection helps me process areas of my life, and consider how to pursue my passions with a passion in the upcoming twelve months.

Still, I realized any new year is not all about me. Or even if I do great things. Instead, it requires roots in something or someone greater than me. And so during my contemplation, a thought would not let go of me:

What if I let God be God this year? 

What will the new year hold if I simply let God do His job as God? And what if I let the Almighty reign over my decisions, circumstances, dreams, and life?

Most importantly, isn’t He the only One who perfectly fills the role as God? No other person or god meets the requirements like our heavenly Father. He’s the most qualified and the most trustworthy.

Therefore, I’m noting 3 ways we let God be G.O.D. this year.

G – Give God the reins and complete reign. 

“God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” Psalm 47:8 (ESV)

Often, we take the reins in particular areas of our lives. And it leads to less-than-best outcomes—even turmoil. Instead, we allow the Lord to take the reins, hold the reins, and keep the reins in everything.

This supercharges His Lordship over us as we surrender total control to Him.

When we give up the reins, God reigns supreme. The Lord takes His rightful place in our hearts and lives.

When we give up the reins, God reigns supreme. The Lord takes His rightful place in our hearts and lives. #NewYear @FridayKaren
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O – Obey the Lord and His Holy Word.

“But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” Jeremiah 7:23 (ESV)

• Obedience leads to the abundant and spiritual life the Lord intended for us.
• Obedience was crucial for God’s people to inhabit the Promised Land, and it’s crucial for us to inhabit God’s promised life.
• Obeying helps us thrive on the Christian journey, not just survive.
• Obedience unlocks God’s power and amazing wonders in our lives.
• Obeying is always for our good and God’s glory.

Obedience was crucial for God’s people to inhabit the Promised Land, and it's crucial for us to inhabit God’s promised life. #NewYear @FridayKaren
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D – Desire God and His dreams above all else. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

The requirement to receive our heart’s desires is to delight in the Lord. In addition, a closer look at the entire chapter gives more understanding: Trust in the Lord (verse 3); Commit your way to the Lord (verse 5); The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way (verse 23); Wait for the Lord and keep his way (verse 34).

When we pursue unhindered, unabated, and unadulterated desire and passion for the one true God above anything else in this world, powerful things take place.

1. Idols fall from their pedestals in our heart.
2. The gap narrows between the desires of our heart and God’s desires.
3. We dream big with God. He’s the biggest dreamer of all. Dream with God, you and Him dream best together.

Prayer

Lord, forgive me for making plans without considering Your plan, and for failing to obey Your Word. I repent of the many times I deny Your Lordship by placing myself, other people or things above You. I’m sorry for dreaming on my own. The best dreams are when we dream together. Help me give up the reins and give You reign in my heart and life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Which of the 3 ways resonates most with you?

*Featured image taken when my husband and I were filming for our YouTube Channel, Friday’s Forever.

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LINKUP is open. Join @FridayKaren as we ask ourselves: What will the new year hold if I simply let God do His job as God? And what if I let the Almighty reign over my decisions, circumstances, dreams, and life? Share your blog! #blog
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The post What If We Let God be God This Year? {Recharge Wednesday LINKUP} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

As with every three-dimensional adventure, plan to interact with an immersive environment that creates a sensory experience. A lifelike scene. An enhanced encounter. This is not an illusion, artificial simulation, or virtual reality. But amazing wonders we get to see, hear, and touch.

3D Up Close and Personal

3D aspects of width, height, and depth bring the spiritual realm up close and personal with God himself. So let’s put on our 3D glasses and look at the story in chapter 3 of Joshua.

After the death of Moses, Joshua’s commissioned as leader. The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. Time came to enter the Promised Land. God’s people set out and arrived at the Jordan river where they lodged for three days. They needed to get to the other side but not take the long way home. 

The Lord gave specific instructions. The priests were to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord (His presence) to the brink of the water. The people were commanded to follow at a distance in order to “know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before” (verse 4 ESV, emphasis mine).

Joshua told them to consecrate themselves for the Lord would do wonders among them (verse 5). When the soles of the priests’ feet rested in the waters, the waters (at flood stage) would stop flowing and stand in a heap (verse 13).

3D Christian Living

Dimension (1). Obedience to God’s commands, plan, and way.

Obedience adds width to our spiritual journey. It shows we believe in the power of God’s hand and the power of His Word.

Obedience expands our borders of abundant life and broadens our scope of influence for God’s kingdom. You see…

God wants our obedience, not our help. 

Can we really help the God of the universe? Oh, we often try. In our mind and prayers, we devise plans and ask God to do it our way. But He always has our greatest interest at heart, concerned for our well-being. His way is best.

While I understand the concept of self-help as a popular trend. Friends, we don’t need self-help. We can’t help ourselves.

Lay down the lie of self-help. We need God-help, Jesus-help, and help from the Holy Spirit. #blog @FridayKaren
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God’s people needed His help to cross the Jordan. On the other side was a new kind of life.

As God’s people, we need His help to cross the Jordan rivers in our lives. We can do it God’s way or our way. On the other side lies victory and new beginnings. But we have to cross over difficult relationships, new jobs, hardships, ministry, and the seasons in life.

Our way often sweeps us away with flood waters. We drown in despair as life wanderers. And we never enter the promised destination where abundant life awaits.

3D Holy Living

Dimension (2). Consecration to God’s Holy and sacred character.

It adds height to our spiritual journey—takes us up close to God.

The Lord calls His people to holiness, purity, and separation from the world. God delights in a holy people.

“Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you” (Joshua 3:5 NIV).

Consecration involved cleansing in the water at the bank of the river. A spiritual rite for sanctification to a Holy God.

The literal meaning for consecration is “association with the sacred” (Google). We have the privilege to associate with the sacred every day. Jesus.

Associating with Jesus today, expecting amazing for tomorrow! (Joshua 3:5) #Amazing @FridayKaren
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3D Amazing Wonders

Dimension (3). Amazing wonders displayed in our lives—the extraordinary.

Obedience and consecration leads to this third dimension. It adds depth (deepness) to our spiritual journey.

The Lord’s works and miracles become a reality we see, hear, and touch. We are involved in the scene and experience the supernatural.

We walk by faith in the promise of God’s power.

Nothing happened at the Jordan until the priests stepped in by faith and obedience. Then, the miraculous happened.

“The priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan” (verse 17, ESV).

As we stand on the banks of the Jordan, God’s capable of making a way. He walks before us and keeps our feet on dry ground. So, let’s put on our spiritual 3D glasses and get ready for amazing wonders! They’re coming!

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#RechargeWednesday LINKUP party is open! Join us as my friend @FridayKaren shares about how God's works and miracles become a reality we see, hear, and touch in 3D Christian living. Share your blog!
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Click for PDF: The One Mile marker 03.17.15

Passage: Exodus 9

Key Verse: “‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Exodus 6:6

He left the presence of the Lord, repeating the words God had given him several days before. “I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements”. He hung on to that promise as he got ready to request yet another audience with the King of Egypt.

Between you and me – Moses had to be tired of it. When we get to Exodus chapter 9, Israel’s leader had seen God strike Egypt five times with miraculous, awesome wonders, and yet, Pharaoh would not waver.  And although God had told him that He himself would harden Pharaoh’s heart, there’s no doubt that pressing on was a hard thing for Moses to do.

How much more, Lord? How much will it take for this hard-headed, prideful king to let your people go? How many more wonders do you have to perform until he finally believes? You know exactly what it will take to break him, and yet, you choose this slow, painful path to set us free. Why? Why?

True – I may be stretching Moses’ thoughts a bit, but we know that Israel’s leader at the time had serious issues with unbelief. He questioned God’s sovereignty over and over again, while presenting his excuses to defuse the task of leading the Jews out of slavery (Exodus 4). Surely it was hard to go again, and plead God’s case before Pharaoh, not once, but five, six, ten times!

What made Moses get up the next day, and obey God in spite of his doubts and fears?

The answer can only be one: Determined obedience.

I’ve been trying to get in the swing of things again concerning my exercise routine. It’s been…., well, tough to say the least. Even five years ago, when I stopped exercising for a while, it seemed to be pretty easy to get my legs conditioned to running in a matter of days.

Not anymore.

I woke up this morning and chose to take my exercise outside. After a long and dreadful winter, the sun is shining and the rising temperatures were an invitation to jog in the park. The location is perfect, just beside my subdivision, and the track is exactly one-mile long. It beats the treadmill by far.

So I set out with a firm objective: two laps. Two miles.

Every 100 yards, a small marker reminded me of how slow I was going. By the time the first mile marker drew near, I was ready to quit. My legs were burning. My breathing was heavy. One mile is enough for today, I reasoned.

That’s when determination had to take over.

My body wanted to quit. It screamed that I’m getting older and it’s ok to stop at half of my journey. But my mind knows better. I know that, unless I press on from my breaking point, I’ll never get past that pitiful one-mile marker.

I smiled at the one-mile marker and was tempted to stick out my tongue at it, like a brat.  “I’m not a quitter!” I wanted to shout.

As I sluggishly continued on to the next lap, I gained new resolve while remembering the many times I felt like quitting, but instead made a conscious decision to keep on. I was reminded of the strength that I found… and the rewards that waited on the other side.

The stubborn last pounds that I needed to lose after each baby…

The book that I needed to finish writing…

The relationship that needed work…

The budget that I needed to follow…

The job that I kept on when I wanted to quit…

The bad habit that needed to change.

Each time I approached the “one-mile marker” of each challenge, and my weaknesses and hesitancy called me to give up, I had to make a deliberate decision to remember that God was with me in the pursuit of deliverance, provision, success and restoration… so long as I obeyed.  I had to call my mind to remember the miracles that God had performed in the past…  And walk in obedience that next mile, knowing that He would show up again.

Are you watching the “one-mile marker” approach in your two-mile journey?

Are your legs ready to give in?

Hey, I don’t blame you. I know the feeling. It’s hard to press on, feeding on unseen promises, when the results we keep getting are the same today as they were yesterday.  That’s probably exactly how ol’ Moses felt, when that fifth judgement from God did not change Pharaoh’s heart.

But what did he do?

He kept remembering the promises… and God’s faithful provisions for each need.

Our problem is that we want to see past today. We want to have forward vision, BEFORE we step onto that next mile of obedience.

What God was doing in Egypt over 3,000 years ago, as Moses climbed the steps of Pharaoh’s palace once again, was much more than a heavenly display of wonders. He was working on individual lives.  He knew what awaited Moses and the people in the wilderness, and therefore, before they left, He needed to strengthen their faith in the God they served.

So they needed to stay a little longer… suffer a bit more… and watch God’s mighty hand at work as they waited.

There’s a reason for that second mile, my friend.

Just as there was a reason for the next five judgments before Israel’s deliverance.

Remember, your journey is not just about you. It’s about God’s glory displayed in and through you. It’s about judgment of the wicked. It’ about faith muscle conditioning.  It’s about establishing determined, blind obedience.

It’s about sweet victory… but not before you’re ready to recognize that it was God who led you there.

Do you want to watch God’s glory displayed? Your faith tested and proven?

Do you want to see what God can do in and through you?

Stick your tongue out at the “one-mile” marker. Tell it you’re keeping on.  God has some more work to do in that second mile of your journey.

And you don’t want to miss the reward for keeping on God’s track for just a little longer.

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